Taylah Tsitsikronis produced three runs and Kaia Parnaby pitched a complete game to lead Australia to its first win in the tournament over Chinese Taipei by a score of 5-1.
WBSC Asia/Oceania Qualifier | How To Watch
Both teams had good opportunities early in the game to jump ahead in the score, but Chinese Taipei starter Ying-Hsin Lin and Parnaby kept the game scoreless. Australia left on base a total of 9 runners, while the Asian stranded 8.
However, in the top of the fifth Australia jumped ahead with a 2-out, 3-run rally. Chelsea Forkin doubled down the left field line, and two pitches later scored with an RBI-single off the bat of Carmelle Sorensen. And then Taylah Tsitsikronis belted a two-run homer to center field to give Austalia a 3-run lead.
Australia takes the lead with a 2-out, 3-run rally!! 😲 😲 #RoadToTokyo #Softbol pic.twitter.com/PkWXnAIKaQ
— WBSC Softball #RoadToTokyo (@WBSCsoftball) September 24, 2019
In the bottom of the sixth Chinese Taipei cleanup hitter Chen Chia-Yi sent a 2-2 pitch way behind the center field fence for a solo home run, to put the score 3-1.
But Australia answered in the top of the seventh with an RBI-double off the bat of Carmelle Sorensen and a run-scoring single by Tsitsikronis.
Kaia Parnaby claimed the win for the team from Oceania, pitching an 8-hit, 1-run complete game, with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk.
Australia and Hong Kong, China lead Group B after the first day of competition. Tomorrow Australia will face Indonesia, while Chinese Taipei will take on Hong Kong, China.
